Chapter 200: The Pursuer (5)
Kang-hoo, who had long since positioned himself behind the assassin through lateral movement, was observing his every move.
He was slightly worried the assassin might realize he had moved behind him, but that had been an overestimation.
“Fuck! Where are you? Shin Kang-hoo! I’m asking, where are you?!”
Cha So-hyeok’s voice, filled with rage, rang out. Despite his anger, it seemed he was frustrated that his enemy remained out of sight.
“……”
The assassin was holding his breath, carefully observing his surroundings. He was being as cautious as possible, keeping his body tense and low.
When both parties are hidden, a strange stillness hangs in the air—it’s the nature of an assassin’s battle.
To figure out where the opponent is, one must even read the smallest flow of the wind.
However, Kang-hoo had no need for that. From the start, the assassin had been within his sight.
There was no need to drag this out.
The assassin, looking in the wrong direction, had no idea where Kang-hoo was.
And so—
Swish! Slash!
Kang-hoo grabbed the assassin’s head and slashed his throat in one swift motion. With the strike connecting directly, the assassin’s flesh and muscles were severed.
“Gurgh! Gah! Gurgle…!”
A thick red line formed in the middle of the assassin’s neck as he repeatedly let out gurgling sounds, like air escaping from a deflated balloon.
Even in this state, the assassin stubbornly tried to turn his body to attack Kang-hoo.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
But Kang-hoo, with an emotionless face, made three more precise cuts to the assassin’s neck.
Immediately, air and blood gushed from the gaping wounds in the assassin’s throat.
【Blood Flower】
A finishing blow.
The assassin’s blood spurted out in a spray, almost as if it had been sprayed from a nozzle.
Along with the assassin’s death, two constellations were instantly plundered, but there was no time to check the list.
Two enemies remained.
Meanwhile—
Cha So-hyeok’s attack had dispersed Kang-hoo’s doppelganger, and the illusion he had summoned vanished as its time limit expired.
All that remained was a shadow.
The black mage seemed to have realized that mental attacks didn’t work on Kang-hoo and now began to deploy offensive skills.
Rumble.
Basic skill: Hellfire Drop.
A purple sphere of flame descended from the sky, aiming to restrict Kang-hoo’s movement.
It appeared the black mage was quite skilled. The Hellfire spread across a wide area, and smoke rose from the spots where it landed.
This meant the attack wasn’t just a typical fire attack but also involved an oxidizing effect.
If caught in it, even if one was in hiding, the smoke would reveal their location and cause significant pain.
“Shin Kang-hoo…!”
Cha So-hyeok came charging in at full speed.
Cha So-hyeok had one weakness—his incredible offensive power was offset by his lack of mobility.
That’s why he was slower than Kang-hoo had initially calculated.
And even if he got closer, there wasn’t much pressure to worry about.
Papak!
Just like now, all Kang-hoo had to do was pick one of the shadows and swap positions.
Cha So-hyeok would be left chasing shadows like a dog chasing chickens.
Kang-hoo continued maintaining the maximum number of five shadows while monitoring the black mage’s actions.
The final one-on-one with Cha So-hyeok could wait. First, he had to deal with the black mage, who was more of a nuisance.
Taaang!
At that moment, Ayane’s second sniper bullet struck Cha So-hyeok’s front legs, causing sparks to fly.
It seemed difficult to land a clean hit, as Ayane had to target a moving opponent from a distance. A predictable result.
The reason the archer had been killed by a single shot earlier was because they had stayed in one spot the entire time.
Hitting a stationary target is something anyone with some knowledge of guns could do.
Fssst. Fssst. Fssst.
Just then, Kang-hoo noticed several invisible dots forming not far from him.
‘Ignition.’
It was the black mage’s basic level 200 skill, Ignition.
Ignition could be followed up with either oxidation or exhaustion, but it seemed this black mage had opted for Ignition.
What’s terrifying about Ignition is that fire can ignite from these invisible points.
And once the flames touch your body, they spread as if gasoline has been poured over you.
It’s a perfect skill for forcing self-immolation on someone.
But thanks to his innate mana hypersensitivity, Kang-hoo could immediately detect the location of the invisible points.
So, he quickly swapped places with a shadow slightly away from the Ignition points.
Taaang! Taaang!
More sniper bullets flew in, hindering Cha So-hyeok’s advance.
Judging by the faster reload time, it seemed Ayane had switched her bullets from killing shots to suppressive fire.
Though they hadn’t exchanged words, Kang-hoo could tell exactly what Ayane was thinking.
She was signaling for him to suppress Cha So-hyeok’s movements as much as possible so she could deal with the black mage.
‘We think alike.’
He had felt the same during the battle at the First Research Lab; Ayane was well in tune with his thoughts as an assassin.
It was almost as if they were thinking and breathing in sync.
Most hunters make decisions based on their own perspective.
A sniper, for example, would only focus on whether the timing was right for a shot or whether there was an opening in the target.
In that process, they often neglect the movements of their comrades or partners.
It’s inevitable, a sort of occupational hazard, as they must focus on their primary role—sniping.
But Ayane had read that Kang-hoo had placed Cha So-hyeok at the bottom of his priority list.
The class of the hunter sent by the Tou-si Guild had not been discussed beforehand. There was no way to find out.
She assessed the situation while thinking of Kang-hoo, realizing that the current position was exactly what Kang-hoo had aimed for.
【Cuteness!】
Kang-hoo summoned a reliable slime in the path of Cha So-hyeok’s movement and immediately threw his Lightning Dagger at the black mage.
“Hmph.”
Had the black mage known why Kang-hoo always opened with a Lightning Dagger attack, he wouldn’t have scoffed.
Unfortunately for the black mage, he didn’t notice anything unusual as Kang-hoo’s dagger flew at him in a predictable path.
Two of his comrades had fallen too easily. Wasn’t this assassin underestimating him, the highest-level one here?
【Devil's Wall】
The black mage instantly summoned a wall in front of him. It was his well-practiced basic defensive skill.
Boom!
The dagger collided with the wall and bounced off. The black mage was confident in his successful defense, but then—
Bang!
Something unexpected happened.
The Devil’s Wall was pushed backward. It was due to the knockback effect attached to Kang-hoo’s Lightning Dagger.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
As a result, a ridiculous situation unfolded where the black mage’s face and body collided with the wall he had summoned.
Though he blocked the dagger, he hadn’t expected the wall itself to be pushed back.
Taking advantage of the moment when the black mage staggered from the blow to his face—
【Sight Theft】
【Mild Chaos】
Kang-hoo cast his disruption skills.
Normally, a class like the black mage wouldn’t fall for such obvious blinding skills.
But now was different. The moment when one manages their pain is their most vulnerable moment.
“Damn it…!”
Realizing there was a problem with his vision and senses, the black mage immediately used the Ignition skill.
Anyone could see this was the perfect moment for Kang-hoo to strike.
Thus, the black mage randomly created ignition points around him, intending to block Kang-hoo’s approach.
It was a strategically sound decision.
‘Good.’
This was exactly what Kang-hoo had been aiming for.
Using his Master of Manipulation skill, Kang-hoo copied the black mage’s Ignition skill and deployed it toward the staggering mage.
【Master of Manipulation - Ignition】
Whether the black mage realized his own skill was being used against him or not, he continued casting more skills in desperation.
Allowing an assassin to approach meant certain death for any magic user.
So, the black mage unleashed skills like Hellfire Drop and True Purple Flame without pause.
He thought this would prevent Kang-hoo from closing the distance.
In reality, Kang-hoo didn’t approach as the black mage expected. He merely returned the mage’s own skill.
And tragedy struck.
Fwoosh!
“Grrgh! Gaaaah!”
The black mage’s body was instantly consumed by flames, ignited by the very Ignition he had cast.
Both Cha So-hyeok and the black mage, the unfortunate victim, were shocked.
Hadn’t he just cast an Ignition he never even used? This was impossible.
Unless he had a death wish, such a suicidal act didn’t make sense. It was absurd.
“Hoo.”
Kang-hoo, taking a moment to catch his breath, gripped his dagger in reverse and threw it at the black mage again with all his strength.
The Lightning Dagger was powered by not only his skill but also by sheer physical force.
And then—
Swish!
The dagger, slicing through the flames, struck the center of the black mage’s forehead, ending his life.
【Soul Imprint - Corrupted Faith】
【Soul Imprint - Recovery】
Kang-hoo then retrieved the dagger he had marked earlier, completing his cleanup.
Now, only Cha So-hyeok remained.
Turning his attention to Cha So-hyeok, Kang-hoo snapped his fingers without even looking back.
He was likely dead by now.
The final touch was the clean confirmation kill with Blood Flower. Behind Kang-hoo, the blood sprayed out like petals from a flower.
Meanwhile, Cha So-hyeok, having dealt with Ayane’s suppressive fire and the unexpected slime, charged at Kang-hoo again.
Papak.
But with Kang-hoo swapping places with his shadow, the distance between them, which had been narrowing, widened again.
For the second time, Cha So-hyeok found himself in the futile position of a dog chasing a chicken.
“Fuck… What the hell are these guys? Why did they die so pathetically?”
Pausing his pursuit for a moment, Cha So-hyeok spat out curses as he looked at the dead bodies of the hunters lying on the ground.
The Tou-si Guild had sent these hunters, claiming they would be of great help.
But within minutes of the fight starting, all three of them were dead.
An unexpected sniper had appeared out of nowhere, killing the archer in an instant.
While Cha So-hyeok’s movements were thoroughly disrupted, the assassin and black mage were both killed in quick succession.
Cha So-hyeok had anticipated that Kang-hoo wouldn’t go down easily.
But he hadn’t imagined the three of them would die so early in the battle.
Despite all of them being hunters over level 300, they had all lost their lives to Kang-hoo’s strategies.
Even the placement of the sniper could be considered part of Kang-hoo’s prearranged plan.
As Kang-hoo faced Cha So-hyeok, he glanced in Ayane’s direction.
He signaled by drawing a circle with his index finger.
The message was clear—stay out of it. From now on, he wanted to settle things one-on-one with Cha So-hyeok.
Cha So-hyeok glared at Kang-hoo.
He had come for revenge, bringing a partner along for the mission, but now he looked ridiculous.
“Coward. Using a sniper?”
“And it’s not cowardly for you to come with backup to kill just one person?”
“What?”
“If you don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘cowardly,’ don’t use it.”
Gnash.
Cha So-hyeok gritted his teeth.
The more they exchanged words, the more they fought, the more he felt disgusted by Kang-hoo.
Of course, this disgust was subjective to Cha So-hyeok alone. Objectively speaking, Cha So-hyeok was the repulsive one.
“I have no reason to hold back anymore. I’ll chop off your head and offer it before So-hee’s grave.”
“Better get ready to smell incense with her.”
Kang-hoo raised his middle finger, further provoking Cha So-hyeok’s anger.
This fight wouldn’t end until one of them was dead. There was no middle ground. No mediation was possible.
Perhaps that’s why—
In an instant, Cha So-hyeok’s eyes and entire body turned red, and smoke began to rise from him.
It was clear to anyone watching that this was an awakening skill, a highly dangerous transformation.
“Even if I have to consume my own blood, I will kill you. Bloodthirst. Feel my fury, Shin Kang-hoo.”
An overwhelming killing intent, completely different from before, emanated from Cha So-hyeok.
The true duel was about to begin.